Helping members keep abreast of Government Advisories

During the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government sent constant updates on their advisories, which made it difficult for members to keep tab on and understand the latest changes to the various precautionary and support measures.

As such, ASPRI, in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and JTC Corporation, organised a webinar on “Safe Management Measures for the Process Construction and Maintenance (PCM) Industry” on 1 June 2020 to address any concerns and unanswered questions members might have in the arduous first half of 2020. It was attended by 327 participants from 203 member companies.

Mr Charles Quek, President of ASPRI’s 12th Executive Council, acknowledged the challenges members had to face during the turbulent period. He empathised with their struggles and encouraged all to persevere and press on in hopes of a brighter future.

ASPRI’s Executive Director, Mr Wayne Yap, initiated the webinar with an overview on the COVID-19 situation and  its impact on ASPRI members and the Association’s response to it.

He identified the three main areas that had the most impact on ASPRI members, namely: Declining Revenues with Increased Costs, Manpower, and Accommodation.

Member companies struggled financially as they had seen their revenues drop due to the suspension of work. This, coupled with the additional costs on essential  items such as facial masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), had impacted them financially. As strict adherence to Safety Management Measures (SMM) had to be observed, the number of workers allowed at worksites was reduced significantly. There had been a mismatch of manpower to available work. Additionally, a sizeable number  of workers who had been decanted from their dormitories could not be deployed for essential maintenance work due to constraints imposed at worksites.

Mr Yap then shared some of the actions taken by ASPRI to help alleviate the difficulties faced by members. He highlighted the financial assistance that was rendered in the form of a one-off 50 per cent annual membership subscription fee rebate for all members. ASPRI-IPI also launched a series of 9 free e-learning modules on IPI Connect App to allow workers to refresh safety knowledge and refine their craftsmanship.

Together with Mr Christopher Koh, Director (Foreign Workforce Policy) of MOM, Mr Yap provided further information on the different elements that were necessary for a safe restart of the PCM sector.

The webinar rounded off with a Q&A session where representatives from MOM, ESG and JTC contributed their insights. ASPRI’s Secretariat Team consolidated the questions into a FAQ and shared it with members after the webinar.